LONDON (AP) — Novak Djokovic wanted to make this much clear after losing to Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon semifinals Friday: This was not a farewell performance. Djokovic intends to compete again at the All England Club.
“I'm not planning to finish my Wimbledon career today,” the 38-year-old Djokovic said. “I'm planning to come back definitely — at least one more time.”
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Serbia's Novak Djokovic tries to keep cool during a change of ends break against Italy's Jannik Sinner in a men's singles semifinal at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Serbia's Novak Djokovic returns to Italy's Jannik Sinner in a men's singles semifinal at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Serbia's Novak Djokovic gets treatment during a medical timeout break against Italy's Jannik Sinner in a men's singles semifinal at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Serbia's Novak Djokovic leaves the court after losing to Italy's Jannik Sinner in a men's singles semifinal at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
His 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 defeat at Centre Court against the No. 1-ranked Sinner put an end to Djokovic's latest attempt to tie Roger Federer's men's record of eight championships at Wimbledon and to claim an unprecedented 25th Grand Slam title overall.
Djokovic was not fully able to compete at his best level, two days after taking what he described as a “nasty” and “awkward” fall in the last game of his quarterfinal victory.
“I don’t want to talk in details about my injury and just whine about not managing to play my best,” Djokovic said Friday. “I do feel disappointed that I just wasn’t able to move as well as I thought or hoped that I would.”
He was visited by a trainer before the third set for treatment on his upper left leg, won the next three games and was a point from a 4-0 lead, but lost six of the last seven games.
“We all saw, especially in the third set, that he was a bit injured,” said Sinner, who will meet No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz in Sunday's final. “He’s been in a very difficult situation.”
Before this fortnight, Djokovic said he figured the grass-court tournament gives him his best chance at another major. His most recent came at the 2023 U.S. Open.
At the next Slam event, the 2024 Australian Open, Djokovic lost to Sinner. At the French Open a few months later, Djokovic needed to withdraw before the quarterfinals because he tore the meniscus in his right knee and needed surgery. Then, a month later at Wimbledon, he lost to Alcaraz in the final, his sixth consecutive appearance in the tournament's title match — and second straight loss to Alcaraz.
Djokovic exited in the semifinals at all three of this season's majors so far, quitting because of a torn hamstring after one set in that round at Melbourne Park, then losing to Sinner at Roland-Garros and again on Friday.
When his earliest loss at Wimbledon since 2017 ended, Djokovic picked up his things and, as he walked toward the locker room, paused to respond to a standing ovation with a smile, a wave and a thumbs-up for the crowd.
A reporter later asked whether Djokovic felt as if he had some bad luck because of the repeated injury issues.
“I don’t think it’s bad fortune. It’s just age — the wear and tear of the body. As much as I’m taking care of it, the reality hits me right now, the last year and a half, like never before, to be honest,” Djokovic replied, shaking his head. “It’s tough for me to accept that, because I feel like when I’m fresh, when I’m fit, I can still play really good tennis. I’ve proven that this year.”
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Serbia's Novak Djokovic tries to keep cool during a change of ends break against Italy's Jannik Sinner in a men's singles semifinal at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Serbia's Novak Djokovic returns to Italy's Jannik Sinner in a men's singles semifinal at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Serbia's Novak Djokovic gets treatment during a medical timeout break against Italy's Jannik Sinner in a men's singles semifinal at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Serbia's Novak Djokovic leaves the court after losing to Italy's Jannik Sinner in a men's singles semifinal at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Glenn Hall, a Hockey Hall of Famer whose ironman streak of 502 starts as a goaltender remains an NHL record, has died. He was 94.
Nicknamed “Mr. Goalie,” Hall worked to stop pucks at a time when players at his position were bare-faced, before masks of any kind became commonplace. He did it as well as just about anyone of his generation, which stretched from the days of the Original Six into the expansion era.
A spokesperson for the Chicago Blackhawks confirmed the team received word of Hall’s death from his family. A league historian in touch with Hall’s son, Pat, said Hall died at a hospital in Stony Plain, Alberta, on Wednesday.
A pioneer of the butterfly style of goaltending of dropping to his knees, Hall backstopped Chicago to the Stanley Cup in 1961. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the playoffs in 1968 with St. Louis when the Blues reached the final before losing to Montreal. He was the second of just six Conn Smythe winners from a team that did not hoist the Cup.
His run of more than 500 games in net is one of the most untouchable records in sports, given how the position has changed in the decades since. Second in history is Alec Connell with 257 from 1924-30.
“Glenn was sturdy, dependable and a spectacular talent in net,” Commissioner Gary Bettman said. “That record, set from 1955-56 to 1962-63, still stands, probably always will, and is almost unfathomable — especially when you consider he did it all without a mask.”
Counting the postseason, Hall started 552 games in a row.
Hall won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 1956 when playing for the Detroit Red Wings. After two seasons, he was sent to the Black Hawks along with legendary forward Ted Lindsay.
Hall earned two of his three Vezina Trophy honors as the league's top goalie with Chicago, in 1963 and '67. The Blues took him in the expansion draft when the NHL doubled from six teams to 12, and he helped them reach the final in each of their first three years of existence, while winning the Vezina again at age 37.
Hall was in net when Boston's Bobby Orr scored in overtime to win the Cup for the Bruins in 1970, a goal that's among the most famous in hockey history because of the flying through the air celebration that followed. He played one more season with St. Louis before retiring in 1971.
“His influence extended far beyond the crease," Blues chairman Tom Stillman said. “From the very beginning, he brought credibility, excellence, and heart to a new team and a new NHL market.”
A native of Humboldt, Saskatchewan, Hall was a seven-time first-team NHL All-Star who had 407 wins and 84 shutouts in 906 regular-season games. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1975, and his No. 1 was retired by Chicago in 1988.
Hall was chosen as one of the top 100 players in the league's first 100 years.
Blackhawks chairman and CEO Danny Wirtz called Hall an innovator and “one of the greatest and most influential goaltenders in the history of our sport and a cornerstone of our franchise.”
“We are grateful for his extraordinary contributions to hockey and to our club, and we will honor his memory today and always,” Wirtz said.
The Blackhawks paid tribute to Hall and former coach and general manager Bob Pulford with a moment of silence before Wednesday night’s game against St. Louis. Pulford died Monday.
A Hall highlight video was shown on the center-ice videoboard. The lights were turned off for the moment of silence, except for a spotlight on the No. 1 banner for Hall that hangs in the rafters at the United Center.
Fellow Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur, the league's leader in wins with 691 and games played with 1,266, posted a photo of the last time he saw Hall along with a remembrance of him.
“Glenn Hall was a legend, and I was a big fan of his,” Brodeur said on social media. “He set the standard for every goaltender who followed. His toughness and consistency defined what it meant to play.”
AP Sports Writer Jay Cohen in Chicago contributed to this report.
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
FILE - Glenn Hall, second from left, stands with fellow former Chicago Blackhawks players Stan Mikita, former general manager Tommy Ivan, Bobby Hull, Bill Wirtz and Tony Esposito during a pre-game ceremony at the Chicago Stadium in Chicago, Ill., April 14, 1994. (AP Photo/Fred Jewell, File)
FILE - St. Louis Blues goalie Glenn Hall, top right, is pinned to his net waiting to make a save on a Montreal Canadians shot as Blues' Noel Picard (4) tries to block the puck while Canadiens' John Ferguson (22) and Ralph Backstorm wait for a rebound in the third period of their NHL hockey Stanley Cup game, May 5, 1968. (AP Photo/Fred Waters, File)